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Project New Age
Project New Age Beginnings After countless battles with the LHC and other rivals along their boarders, the Draconian Navy came to a harsh realization. Their navy’s technology was slowly becoming obsolete. It was becoming clear that whatever advantage they originally held against their enemies, it was slowly losing its effectiveness. Their ships were becoming under armed and under shielded it the new age of combat, their cloaking technology was losing effectiveness, and their tactics were becoming obsolete. The clearest example of this was during the battle of Ixidron 5 where an LHC fleet was routed in their attempts to conquer the system. While a victory, it proved to be a costly one. Over half of the defense force was destroyed or rendered unsalvageable. Few ships were captured to replace the losses. However, it was the after action survey that presented the most evidence, of the several thousand or so missiles that had been fired, only 20% had found their mark. The remaining were either intercepted, missed, or were destroyed by friendly flak fire. The LHC on the other hand was achieving over 45-50% missile accuracy. These numbers were a sobering realization. An investigation revealed that the true cause of this was the lack of available targeting data. After a ship would fire, it would to maneuver or begin an evasive flak dispersal pattern. This meant that the missile was on its own when it came to targeting as Draconian ships were forced to divert all of their sensors onto point defense fire or to lock a new target. Draconian missiles were also not equipped with anti-intercept and anti-countermeasure systems and so were often intercepted or shot down. Friendly flak fire often intercepted missiles as they were incapable of distinguishing friendly and enemy missiles or the missile was simply flying into a heavily shelled area. These factors led to a poor accuracy rate for missiles and subsequently led to higher missile expenditures and lower returns. The lack of an effective firing system was also a problem. Since its inception, Draconian ships used internal missile tubes to cover a 360-degree pattern. The tubes however did not allow for effective rapid fire nor the effective launch of specific warheads. This meant that except for the opening salvo, captains would have to prioritize different tubes as loaded with different warheads. This meant that not all tubes could be fired at once, as different tubes would have to be loaded with anti-fighter, anti-flak, anti-missile, or ship-to-ship. Missiles could also not be exchanged quickly as unloading and reloading a tube took time. Draconian ships were also suffering from a lack of anti-missile and fighter suppressants. Standard ion cannons were ineffective at stopping groups of fighters or missiles and flak batteries were too complicated to be loaded in large numbers onto one ship and ships lacked the coordination to use them effectively. The final flaw was the lack of information. Ships were forced to use standard encoded communication arrays to communicate with other captains. Commanders were forced to physically ask for updates or rely on their sensors to make tactical decisions. Ships were incapable of sharing targeting data, ship movements, or enemy missiles and fighter paths. This meant that each captain was forced to fight alone rather that as a group. This coupled with the weakening technology was slowly deteriorating the Draconian Navy. It was in 2041 that the Navy set in motion its plan to upgrade their forces to make up for these shortcomings. Their initial plan of upgrading missiles to be true fire and forget warheads was not cost effective and in battle simulations, the accuracy rate only rose to 25%. It was the brainchild of a retired Draconian naval officer, a new R&D technician, and a college student that came up with the solution. Flak Cannons Dubbed by the press and Naval R&D as Project New Age, the navy began its modernization program in 2042. The first step was modifying all existing ships and building new ships with a series of new weapons. All Draconian ships had their ion cannons removed in favor of the new hybrid plasma flak rail gun. This weapon was a modification of the original flak cannon and was designed by a rookie R&D tech working on a new type of infantry bullet. While the Marine Corps rejected his design as too costly, the Navy adapted the design to function as a flak shell. This weapon was designed from the beginning as an anti-ship and anti-ordinance weapon. It fired a multi use shell that would explode either in proximity to a ship or upon impact. When detonated in proximity, it would discharge a cloud of superheated plasma. This coupled with the shockwave would burn through hulls and ignite fuel tanks and ordinance. Upon impact, the plasma would be directed into the hull of the ship like a shape charge. Missile Rails The second was the rail launched missile system. The tube system had been in use as it was more easily defended, however it limited the amount of missiles that a ship could fire at one time. It was a retired Navy commander who suggested that an external rail system might solve the navy’s problem. The new rail system however had been modified with armor plates surrounding the firing rails and could be retracted into the hull to defend it from enemy fire. The rail system fired smaller missiles, but could now fire more and these missies would carry a higher charge and had a longer range as the rails eliminated the missiles need to maneuver when it left the tube. When the missiles were fired, the rails would return to a vertical position so that new missiles could be reloaded. The reloads were stored in internal tubes that could be swapped out more easily to accommodate the battle. These rails could also be spaced out over the hull allowing for over 80 missiles to be fired at once for a battleship. The average reload time was 5 seconds. Tac. Comm. Grid The final development in the Navy’s Project New Age was the Tac. Comm. Grid or Tactical Command Grid. This was a system originally designed to link several college computers together over a subspace communication channel. This system created a whole new way the navy fought. Now each ship could communicate with every other ship automatically. Each ship would share targeting data, sensor readings, defensive fire, and communication channels. This allowed even fighter to target ship ordinance increasing the accuracy and the range of all Draconian ship-to-ship weapons. Ships were now organized into groups ranging from 3-5. Each group was assigned a tactical commander who would coordinate the battle with other commanders. These groups would then report to section commanders who would then keep track of them. Depending on the size of the fleet, more groups would be organized in order to facilitate the easy flow of information. Eventually a single commander could coordinate an entire battle down to a single fighter. Bridges were now redesigned with a large tactical display table where the ships’ Captain and XO could stand and observe while at the same time communicating with life-size holographic displays of his fellow commanders. Command ships were constructed in order to allow for the large CIC rooms needed for this system. This system allowed for the transmission of data throughout the fleet. One ship could fire on an enemy that had been targeted by another. Flak now could be directed with ease and missiles could fly through channels made by the flak batteries. First Test These upgrades were first put to the test in the battle of Ares 2. An LHC fleet numbering at least 50 ships with at least 15 capital ships arrived to combat the local defense fleet numbering only 30 with only 6 capital ships. The LHC opened with a massive missile barrage. It was a shock when only 10% hit. The TacComm Grid allowed commanders to prioritize the missiles that were headed for the weakest or most vulnerable targets allowing stronger or less valued targets to take the brunt of the barrage. The Draconians fired a missile barrage of their own of which 60% hit their targets. The LHC prepared a counter barrage, but they were stunned to see another missile barrage seconds after the first was launched. With the LHC’s inability to rapidly alter their warheads, the more missiles hit their mark. With the ability to customize the missile load outs, the Draconians were able to fire a salvo of defense suppressant missiles designed to absorb point defense fire and allow larger warheads through. The second salvo by the LHC met with little success as anti-missiles and defensive fire could be coordinated to intercept the missiles or redirect them to less vital areas of the fleet. The LHC forces attempted to launch fighter to disable the command ships. The dogfights that broke out between the ships were quick and brutal as the Draconian fighters could easily target and destroy enemy fighters in groups with one targeting and one firing. In a desperate move the enemy fleet charged full on into the Draconian fleet. The Draconians brought the full force of their guns to bear tearing the LHC fleet apart. With their shields reduced to 0, the flak cannons ripped hulls to shreds and soon the enemy was in full retreat. News of this new technology spread. With minimal losses suffered by the Draconians, Project New Age was deemed a success. Now armed with the new technology, the Draconians began to return as one of the galaxy’s rising powers.